Many times upon a time, you and I have faced diseases and despair, disaster, despondency, depression. And yet, despite the mad COVID, the mad bovid disease, the mad cows disease, the sad COVID disease, we somehow have muddled through them all. Many times upon a time, we face all these situations and yet we are still here. There are three possible ways that we can respond to misfortunes and disasters and the events of our lives. We can be extremely anxious about our health, for example. For example, whereas we use a scarf At a cough, we are off at the first instance, at the sound of it. The world is becoming rather nervous, waiting perhaps for our next pandemic. Or else, having survived, we may take things for granted, that we can live forever. So we become reckless, stoical, We have a measure of health and strength now, and though they may not be as great as before, we think that we can be here forever. But surely, our diminishing years, diminishing strength should at least remind us of our frailty and of our mortality. We are here today and gone tomorrow. These tragedies and misfortunes harden this group of people. Whereas they may be once sympathetic to the possibility of the existence of God, they are now decidedly anti-Christian and anti-God. They spew out the old fallacy that if there is a God of love, how is it possible for there to be so much evil and hurt and pain and suffering? Problem of pain, admittedly, is quite a difficult subject, even for us Christians, and one beyond our understanding. But if we leave that to God, we'll probably know the answer one day when we're in glory, but not just yet. There is a third way of responding to all the misfortunes and disasters, a response of compliance and submission to the will of God. Those who are in the prime of youth may take things for granted like us old-timers once did, but soon they will know how fleeting time is. We've almost passed a whole year, and soon will come another new year. Time is marching on, surely and steadily. We are years marched nearer home, whether it's in heaven, a land of glory, or in hell, a place of everlasting torment. But basically, there are really two groups of people, though there are these three responses, anxious and hardened, who think and live as though there is no tomorrow. And so they live lives that are consistent with it. So anxious that there's no tomorrow, and so makes the most of today. Either worrying over much or else engaging in habits that are detrimental to health, to excess of riot. And this is most evident this time of year. Friends, we must live as though there is a tomorrow. In fact, we live as... There is a tomorrow. Tomorrow may be a time of joy and of sorrow. And come what may, believers will acquiesce to the will of God, submit to His providence. The same sun of affliction which melts the wax also hardens the clay. He then becomes more and more hardened to the ways of God with every onslaught of tragedy. They become stoics. They become fatalists. They're facing misfortune. And they're saying, Que sera, sera. Whatever will be, will be. There's nothing they can do to change that. How you respond reveals the true character and spiritual standing of yourself, whether you're a child of the devil or a child of God. Because a child of God is not reckless as many count their lives as being worthless and reckless after death. So how are we going to face tomorrow and the next month and the next year? The future is unknown to us. We have obviously not experienced the day after today. That was exactly the future facing the people of God. The passage that we have read that come out of Egypt that had gone up and down the wilderness, but they had not crossed Jordan before. It was a new ground, a new experience to them that presented a new difficulty, a series of difficulties laid before them. How did they respond and deal with that? They have not passed this way hitherto. So Joshua instructs them and tells them and us how we are to face the unknown future. The ark was to be their guide. They were to follow the priest who carried the ark of the covenant, which was the visible representation of the presence of God. that you may know the way by which you must go, that we're not to fret or be over-anxious about tomorrow, when the evil today is more than sufficient for us all to handle." Firstly, then, the separation upheld. The space of separation upheld. Now, in order to build a secure structure, you need a firm foundation. An edifice, no matter how beautiful, will crumble to the ground if the foundations are not laid properly. This is so much truer in the spiritual realm. We need to get the basics right for a sure foundation to support the onslaught of life's evil upon us, the arrows of the devil, the attacks of the world. We need instructions. We need to be taught. And so Joshua instructed the people, There shall be a space between you and it, about 2,000 cubits by measure. Come not near unto it. That's verse 4. A space between you and the ark of the covenant. There were two reasons why this should be so. First is a practical reason. By doing so, the largest possible number of people would be able to see the Ark from a distance. Whereas if you were to crowd around the Ark, only those who were within meters would be able to see the Ark themselves. They would be hiding the Ark from those that are behind. And so there was a space so that all the people would be able to visualize the Ark from a distance. But more importantly, surely, was the fact that they could not come too close to the sacred presence that was symbolic of the presence of God of perfect holiness. The Ark symbolized God's presence with Israel. And sinful man, you and I, even after we have been saved as indwelling sin, and we cannot approach God too near, there will be a space, there must be a space between God and man. Even in glory, even in heaven, there will be a space between God and man, but it will not be a space of division or estrangement, but a space of reverence, a space of difference because He's God and we are man, the creator and the creature. A man has a false view of himself, which is carried over even after he has believed. We need to be very careful, aware of the faults that are in us. The ark was carried far ahead of the people by the priests who were unarmed. The Israelites thought incorrectly that they needed to protect the ark. when in essence, in fact, they owe all their protection to it. And so it is with us, so much of our theology and our understanding is upside down and it's opposite to the truth and we need to be instructed. We need to be students, diligently studying the Word of God. We need to confess that our understanding so far So often deviant and we need to be corrected. We have to understand that God's ways are not our ways. Proceed to follow God's ways. We need to admit that God's thoughts are not ours. Quite often we do that. We say, well, God's thoughts are not ours. And then we think like a heathen, setting God's thoughts aside. So the professing church wants to offer to God what they think that God needs. They need to give God a helping hand. Even in worship, especially in worship and in life, there must be a space between God and us. And so Joshua instructed the people of God to keep their distance. that we may not be too over-familiar with our eternal and triune God. People in the world today, in a field called biomimicry, tries to copy God's creation. And that's how the sticky tape Velcro was developed, was pattern of the seed that stuck to the clothes of its inventor. Then you have the robo-fly, tiny flying robot that mimics the flight of a fly. Flies are the most well-designed flyers in the world. Try to catch one and you will fail. They can change the speed and direction in a fraction of a second. They can even land upside down. But these people try to copy God's design, refuse to believe that there is intelligent design at all. What cheek to mimic God's design without acknowledging the God of creation, attributing all these things to evolution. Sometimes a Christian is not much better. We copy God and usurp His prerogatives. There is an imitation of God that is forbidden to be as God as our first parents did. But of course, we have to be as holy as God is holy. But there is another aspect, imitation of God, which is unlawful. We need to acknowledge God's truth, but then we need to keep a distance because of His transcendence. That is, Here is the God, the trying God who dwells in eternity. He has sovereignty and prerogatives over us. How do we know God's thoughts and to think after them, after God? By acknowledging His superiority over us. And we will know the way by which we must go if we submit to His revealed truth. When we are studying God's Word and by His grace, lived by the truth that He has revealed by the Word of God. So, we take it for granted that we all read the Bible, but quite often it's just a cursory study. We need to dig deep into the wells of God. But then you might say, the portions of the Bible that are quite boring and mundane. The Bible dry as dust, you say. Yes, but it's gold dust. Still as bread. Yes, but living bread. Hard as stones. Yes, but precious stones. Dull as dishwasher, dish water. No. It's living water. And there are times in our lives, perhaps you may have discovered it yourself, that the least contemplated verse is just what your soul needed at that moment. Verses that are not familiar, yes, even verses that are too familiar with us, jump right out of the pages of the Bible when God speaks to us. That's the Word of God that God has given to us for us to meditate upon, to chew upon, and to find meat for our souls. But how many of us handle God's Word with a reference and keep their distance? How many tremble each time they open their Bibles? Because this is no ordinary book, but it is God's Word. Who is poor and of contrite spirit, trembles at God's word. To that man and to that woman will God look upon favorably. And they will know the way of the Lord in all their affairs. They will know the God, the grace of God in all their exigencies. A space between you and I. Oh, how hard it is to try and How foolish it is to bring God down to our level, to close the space between God and us. Is God our equal? God says, well, you think that you may be my equal, but that is entirely wrong. If that is so, we can indeed be on equal terms. And if He were our peer, we could indeed speak of God as our friend and equal. But a space must be maintained between God and us. And we can only have interaction with God because of His condescension to our level. And it's not us reaching up to Him to bring Him down. Yes, there's an instance when God called Abram his friend. That is His prerogative. And now, the Lord calls us his friends in John 15. Henceforth, I call you not servants, but I have called you friends. This is nothing but sheer condescension on the part of God. But it does not belong to us, therefore, to call God our friend. There's no equality of relationship. And as you know, the disciples never referred to Christ as their friend, but as Lord and Master. The transcendent God will not share His glory with anyone. The awful transcendence of God, the awful separateness between God and the world of man. It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers. This is the contrast we must always bear in mind between the one who sits on the circle and those who jump around in circles like grasshoppers. There shall be a space between you and God. A space upheld. Secondly, the soul undertaking. solitary undertaking, the way that you must go. There is a way, the only way that every believer must go, and that is God's way. Obviously, the details are different in each and every one of us. Our lives and our experiences are different, different circumstances. But all our ways can be subsumed, summarized under God's, under the heading of God's ways. When we walk the path that God sets, that God shows, there cannot be any anxiety or fear at all in our lives. When we walk in the light of God's countenance, we shall know the blessedness of that walk and the joyful sound that accompanies that obedience. As we have discovered, Lord God Almighty has shown us the way and now teaches us that way. In the light of Thy countenance, they shall walk, O Lord. That is the prayer and desire of the child of God. That's our desire as we venture into a new year, a way we have not passed before. How can you and I know the way if we insist on doing things our way? Because if there's no agreement, there cannot be just one way. How can two walk together if they're not to be agreed? Either the claims of God must take precedence and prevail, or the claims of man. And who do you think should yield? Surely the claims of puny man must give way to the claims of one who is higher, given God Almighty. And so it is looking to God alone, directed from His Word alone, that will give us light in our journey through the wilderness of sin and of darkness. Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of His servant, that walketh in darkness and have no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God. The way that you must go next year then is a way that will be revealed when we have our eyes upon God. What will the new year bring? We don't really know. Next year, some of us may walk the path of glory. Some of us will walk the path of poverty or pain or persecution. We'll all have our ups and downs, our values. joy and of sorrow, some of us may tread upon these shores for the last time. And time, at all times, will eventually usher us to a land where time shall be no more. You have not passed through these experiences before. You have not passed through this way before. You have not experienced the new year before. How will you deal with it? How will you cope? The unbeliever has no guide to help him. He relies on himself and the advice of his equally ignorant and unenlightened friend, and his reliance will lead him darker and darker into a darker corner and despair. Unbeliever has grounds to be anxious and despondent because he has no light. No light at the end of their tunnel except more darkness. They walk within darkness and have no light. How grateful you and I should be to know that Jehovah is our guide to the end, has given us the Bible, a lamp to our feet, a guide to our path. For this God is our God forever, and he will be our guide even unto death. Oh, how much we need this guidance through the valleys of life, the valleys of the shadow of death. There's no need to fret if we cast our eyes upon God, as did the Israelites on the Ark of God. They passed through Jordan and every obstacle between. God, our guide to the end, what more can you and I ask? The path that we will take next year will be different, but the guide that we have and the light that we possess is the same forever. if we focus, if we keep our eyes upon our God. But obviously, as we discovered, our eyes are not always focused and fixed, are they? Our hearts are not always united. And so we are not always teachable, not always amenable to God's ways. For that, we must humble ourselves and pray for grace. The way ahead, has been set for us and is clear. The path to tread is fixed by the immutable wisdom of God. But the problem is that far too often we're quite confused and anxious and hesitant to take the next step. The very instant we lose sight of God and of His ways and of His providence, concentrate on the waves of evil that surround us, We will sing as Peter did. There's only one sure guide, one good shepherd that will lead you and I. It is he, Christ Jesus. We shall feed his flock like a shepherd, shall gather the lambs under with his arm and carry them in his bosom, shall gently lead them that are with young. Scripture bids us to look to Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. until we are led to Jordan's shore. Thirdly, the surest until. You have to be sure of whom we have believed until we are led to Jordan's shore. That you may know the way by which you must go. It's because of the focus on the ark of God and His presence. Israel could only know the way as they set their eyes upon God's presence and following Him. And when they did, and when we do, we most assuredly know the way that we must go. God never speaks hypothetically or hypocritically. He speaks and it will be done. He speak and it was done. He speaks because he knows exactly what's going to happen, when it will happen. And when we put our trust in such a God as the God of the Bible, we will know we will be confident that whatsoever comes to pass, whatever experiences we may have, In the new year, it would be a blessing and not a curse for us. So when God tells us to fix our eyes upon him, promises the way in which we must go will be made clear. But we must keep our distance from God. The unknown scares the unbeliever, but it drives the believer to God. No one is a safe guide to the unbeliever. Who do they trust? Perhaps they trust the government and the NHS to help them in the time of need. The government is being relied more and more today. They have the ability to help them to the end. But there's so much danger in over-reliance upon the government. Someone has well said, the nine most terrifying words in the English language are these. I'm from the government and I'm here to help. There is a limit to how the government can help us. There's zero help from the government when it comes to our spiritual well-being and health. They're meant to uphold the true religion as we believe in the establishment principle. But this is today not true in principle and not true in practice. So how sure are we trespassing the journey of the new year? What assurance have we that we will pass through Jordan safely? There'll be shocks and surprises, unexpected turns of events, misfortunes and accidents and coincidences and tragedies. Anything can go wrong in our lives. Church, for example, that we belong to may not be here for our children. The forces of evil are too strong and they're making inroads relentlessly. It's hardly a voice in the marketplace for the truth and for God's truth. There's so much to discourage us, much to encourage us to give up the good fight. The way ahead is too difficult. The new year may mean more dwindling numbers in our congregations. But these sentiments are foreign to the believer who has his eyes upon the Lord. Because the surest way to feel despondent is to look upon ourselves and to believe that the cause of truth depends solely upon us and upon our shoulders. Is the battle ours or is the battle the Lord's? Surely, we must take encouragement that God is with us to the end. Words of despair than the vocabulary of those who are without faith. It's not the vocabulary, it's not in the dictionary of heaven. Well then, what will the new year bring? Things that are unexpected, and therefore you feel unprepared, you lament. It is out of the blue. A God that reassures us and says, ah yes, maybe out of the blue, but it is out of my blueprint. It is according to the plan, according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His will. You least expect the things to happen, but God has it all planned for you for the new year. If only we can have a glimpse of God's blueprint for your life and mine. Oh, we will place our hands upon our mouths. We will not be so quick to speak and to charge God foolishly. But you say it's inconvenient. God says it's prevenient. That is before time, before human action. The question we need to ask ourselves is this. If God has so decreed for some things to happen in our lives, even if it's something that is painful, why is it an inconvenience to you and I? Was it an inconvenience when He saved you? Was it an inconvenience when He blessed you? Shall we not receive evil from Him and shall we not receive good? Do both of these not work together for good? Those who love God. You say it's preventable. God says it's predestinated. You call it an accident. God calls it exactly according to plan. You call it a tragedy. God calls it a necessity for your sanctification. You call it a displeasure. God says it's according to my good pleasure. You call it a misfortune. God says you're missing the point of trials and afflictions. And when you and I finally realize that we need to understand life and things from God's perspective, sub speciae eternitatis, from the perspective of eternity, We would not fret at all, but we would pray more. When we see things and events from God's perspective, things that seem haphazard are things that happily fall in line and in pleasant places. Then you realize that you have a goodly heritage because all judgments that God makes, all things that He does are done from the perspective of eternity. Now we know that the prevailing philosophy that governs the world today is one of secularism. live only for the here and now, only for today and not tomorrow. They live by the motto, let us eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die. The sum total of their lives and the significance of it can be seen in their cold tombstones, where there are just two numbers separated by a hyphen, the day of their birth and the day of their death. Modern man thinks in terms of the short term. Instant gratification, now and not tomorrow. This is a now generation. Therefore, there are no long term consequences to trouble them. Which is why there's so much crime and lawlessness. You do the crime, you do some time, and then you're let off to do more crime. Capital crime these days means that crime, refers to crime that gains capital. It is profitable to be a criminal this day. It's always the victim that suffers. Christ who comes from above, from all eternity, tells us there is life after death, and we are to live our lives in the light of eternity. Yes, we are in the temporal realm. We're in the physical realm. But everything we do here has eternal significance. How we respond to life's events has eternal significance. It's lawful to plan for tomorrow, but wrong to panic over what we have not gone through. Sufficient is the evil of today. that we may not be overmuch anxious. And when we see God from afar off, from His perspective, and through the lenses of heaven, would calm us considerably when we know that He knows, our God knows everything about us and everything that's going to happen to us. Our distance from Him must be guarded jealously. Our distance from God, that we may not think of Him as an equal. But there is one in whom we can and must draw close. Stick to one who sticketh closer than a brother. For in all our afflictions, he was afflicted. In all our sorrows, he knew what it was to weep and to shed a tear. To him, the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice. And he calleth his own sheep by name and leadeth them out. And when he put forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And the stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers. Do you know this good shepherd who will guide you even unto death? If you do, you will know how true it is that the path of the just is as a shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. But how terrible for those outside of Christ. The way of the wicked is as darkness. They know not at what they stumble. May we be granted grace to fix our eyes upon God from a distance, but draw close to Christ Jesus good shepherd of our souls, who will lead us to Jordan's shores. Amen.